Full listings for Grassington Festival

Every day WordLab: Think While You Ink! & Print Trail, Ladies Room, Town Hall, 11am to 5pm weekdays, noon to 4pm weekends.

An experimental print space for the community led by artist printmaker Helen Peyton. Each day a workshop will be individually themed and explore speech and language, shaped for and responding to individual needs. Print a Festival Flag. Creations you make may be shared in a Print Trail around the village, reaching inside the town hall with interactive word-themed games and mapping activities. Each weekend there will be themed days, with Make a Wish on June 14, Fathers’ Day, June 15, Alphabet June 21, Fun and Games June 22 and Party June 28.

Exhibition: StArt Project and Story Cloth, Town Hall, 11am to 4pm On show inside the town hall will be two projects showcasing the delicate skill and work by Grassington and Skipton Embroiderers’ Guild. StArt project (Stitched Art in the Dales) is a felted map of the Yorkshire Dales, acknowledging Le Grand Depart. There is an accompanying talk led by the Embroiderers’ Guild on Wednesday, June 19. Story Cloth is an embroidery piece illustrating the story of Broughton Road Women’s Group, from the Skipton Kashmiri Community. This triptych maps the stories of this community in their area of Kashmir at the foot of the Himalayan mountains, then the lives of their families in Skipton.

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Friday, June 13 Le Grand Voyage, Octagon Theatre, 6.30pm Harrogate Theatre and Il Pixel Rosso are creating an exceptional and unforgettable theatrical experience that puts participants into the heart of the Tour de France like no other.

Opening Night Party with The Troggs & FM Party Band, Town Hall, 8pm The Troggs are opening Grassington Festival with a bang, playing hits like Love is All Around and Wild Thing. Taking their name from FM radio, The FM Party Band perform sing-along hits from the 1960s to the present day. FMPB are masters of the medley, mashing one classic into the next like a DJ Saturday, June 14 Dry Stone Walling for Beginners, Fell Grange Farm, Burnsall, 10.30am to 3.30pm.

Come and find out the basics of how to build an iconic dry stone wall on a working farm. Learn with Dales Master Craftsman Ian Daggett. Please bring suitable footwear (no trainers), sturdy gloves and a packed lunch.

Festival in the Square, The Square, 10.30am to 4pm.

Enjoy a day out for all the family with free entertainment and music. See the wonderful work the visual arts team have been doing with local schoolchildren as the Carnival Print Procession celebrates the opening of the Festival by walking through the village with colourful billowing flags starting at 11am..

Le Grand Voyage, Octagon Theatre, 11am to 3pm Harrogate Theatre and Il Pixel Rosso are creating an exceptional and unforgettable theatrical experience that puts participants into the heart of the Tour de France like no other.

Guided walk: Both Sides of the Wharfe Twixt Kettlewell & Starbotton, from Kettlewell Car Park, 1.30pm to 5pm A moderate five-mile (8km) walk, enjoying varied views of the dale and its meadows, upland woodland and the pastoral riverside. Dress for Dales weather: bring sensible footwear, waterproofs, sun screen, snack and drink. No dogs or unaccompanied children but the walk is suitable for families. Advance booking essential.

Retorica, St Margaret Clitherow, Threshfield, 3pm Philippa and Harriet met at the Royal Academy of Music, London and discovered their passion for contemporary music as well as the wealth of rarely heard repertoire for two violins. Since they started playing together in 2010, Retorica has performed all over the world.

Film: Wadjda, Octagon Theatre, 6pm.

Presented by Grassington Festival and Grassington Hub, Wadjda comes like a breath of fresh air. One of the first films to come out of Saudi Arabia and the first to be directed by a woman. The film centres on 10-year-old Wadjda, who spots a beautiful green bicycle for sale, but her mother forbids her from buying it, afraid of repercussions in a society where a bicycle could be seen as compromising a young girl’s virtue.

Ade Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds, Town Hall, 8pm The Bad Shepherds play punk songs on folk instruments. Not as a gag, but because they really like the noise. They do songs by everyone from The Sex Pistols to Squeeze. They give the songs a kind of Celtic feel and have stuck in the odd reel and jig here and there.

Sunday, June 15 Festival in the Square: Yorkshire Food & Drink, The Square, 9.30am to 3.30pm A farmers’ market with a festival twist! Expect demonstrations, discussions and celebrations of the depth and wealth of Yorkshire produce. Stroll the Square and dip into all that is great about Yorkshire. Sample, support and buy from local growers, farmers and local chefs.

Festival Service, Town Hall, 10am Take a moment of calm to come together with the community and celebrate and give thanks in an ecumenical service.

Wizard presents I Believe in Unicorns by Michael Morpurgo, Octagon Theatre, 3.30pm Tomas hates books and school but his world is turned upside when he is dragged to the library and meets the Unicorn Lady.

This enchanting and interactive show sparks imagination in both young and old. Add your own piece of magic by bringing a children’s book to become part of the set, and swap it for another at the end. Suitable for families with children aged from five to 11 years.

Snake Strings, St Wilfrid’s Church, Burnsall, 7.30pm Snake Davis has found a string quartet with the right sound and attitude for his ideas. Snake Strings perform a mix of funky, classical, soulful and world music, all with a Snakey twist. Expect tunes ranging from River Deep, Mountain High to self penned numbers such as Shiro Sunset.

An evening with Helen Fraser, Victoria Hall, Settle, 7.30pm Helen has been a professional actress for more than 50 years. Helen’s show traces her theatrical journey and features some of the music which has played an important part in her life.

Monday, June 16 Masterclass: Summer Catch and Cook, Kilnsey Estate, 10am to 2pm Enjoy a perfect day catching and cooking your own fish. Learn the noble art of fly fishing and experience the thrill of catching a fish, before a professional chef helps you cook it to perfection. There will also be a tour of the award-winning Kilnsey smokehouse/ A Firm of Poets, Black Horse, workshop 3pm, performance 6pm.

A Firm of Poets comprises seasoned spoken word artists and writers Matthew Hedley Stoppard, Ralph Dartford and Matt Abbott (Skint and Demoralised).The Firm not only showcases its members, but also has a desire to expose the best of emerging talent from the region and beyond.

Kate Adie: Fighting on the Home Front, Town Hall, 7.30pm Kate Adie reported on conflicts such as Libya and Rwanda,as the BBC’s chief news correspondent. She is also a bestselling author and has turned her attention to the role of women in the First World War. She comes to Grassington to talk about what life was like for women who looked after their families and took on work such as munitions, agriculture and labouring, and some of the neglected heroines of the war, such as Flora Sandes, a Yorkshirewoman, an ambulance volunteer and one of the only women to officially fight in the war.

Tuesday, June 17 Book club, The Fountaine, Linton, 10.30am to 11.45am What exactly is a Book Club? Come along and find out, join the Fountaine Inn reading group to discuss The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan. Refreshments available Workshop: Explore Monoprint, Drypoint, Collagraph, Lino and Letterpress Print all in one day!, Ladies Room, Town Hall, 10am to 3pm Join local printmaker Helen Peyton for a day of learning about image based print techniques. Print with line, textural and embossed effects, adapt and develop your ideas and expect unexpected results! All levels of experience welcome. All materials and tools provided.

Guided walk: Around Grassington with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, from The Foresters Arms, 10.30am to 12.30pm A pretty three-mile walk around Grassington taking in Linton Falls, the River Wharfe and beautiful wildflower hay meadows. Suitable for all ages and well-behaved dogs on leads. Dress for Dales weather.

Gala Concert: Nicholas Daniel and Carducci Quartet, Town Hall, 8pm, World famous oboist Nicholas Daniel and the Carducci String Quartet team up again for an evening of excellent music making. It will feature oboe quintets by Michael Berkeley and the wonderful Arnold Bax. plus the fiery Spanish Toreador’s Prayer by Turina and Haydn’s famous “Joke” quartet.

Wednesday, June 18 Guided Walk: Grassington Heritage Trail, from the YDNPA car park, 2pm to 4pm Who was Tom Lee? What are Jakeys? Where did people walk? An easy three-mile (5km) walk in and around Grassington will reveal the answers. Dress for Dales weather. No dogs or unaccompanied children but the walk is suitable for families and pushchairs if speedy! Advance booking essential.

The School of Night, Town Hall, 8pm The School of Night was a secret sect of artists, scientists and spies who some believe wrote Shakespeare’s plays. Revived in the 21st century by maverick theatre genius Ken Campbell, the School creates authentic Shakespeare plays on the spot from the audience’s suggestions. Following appearances at Shakespeare’s Globe, The National Theatre, The Royal Court, Bristol Old Vic and numerous international tours, the School comes to Grassington for an evening of hilarious literary and theatrical high-wire antics. There is also an afternoon workshop with the Fraters.

Thursday, June 19 Workshop: Explore Monoprint, Drypoint, Collagraph, Lino and Letterpress Print all in one day!, Ladies Room, Town Hall, 10am to 3pm Join local printmaker Helen Peyton for a day of learning about image based print techniques. Print with line, textural and embossed effects, adapt and develop your ideas and expect unexpected results! All levels of experience welcome. All materials and tools provided.

Film: The Settlement, Town Hall, 8pm Presented in partnership with The Hub, the premiere of this exciting and ambitious project documenting local life in Grassington. Film-maker Geoff Kerr and local historian Cynthia Colley have collaborated to produce a film which centres around the residents and visitors of this unique part of the Yorkshire Dales The Scene, Foresters Arms, 9pm This much loved local band are back by popular demand Friday, June 20 Guided walk: Moor than just a walk, from the Fountaine Inn, Linton, 10.30am Meet at the Fountaine Inn at 10.30am for a bacon sandwich, tea and coffee. Depart on a guided circular walk across Linton Moor to Cracoe. Approximately 6.5 miles. Return for traditional Afternoon Tea.

National Care Homes open day, Threshfield Court, Threshfield.

Join in events at Threshfield Court as Barchester fling open their doors as part of this national care homes initiative. More details at grassington-festival.org.uk The Al Wood Nine, Town Hall, 8pm.

Legendary northern swing band leader Al Wood and his sax-heavy mid band will play “Be-bop, Swing and All That Jazz”. Raised on the big bands of the 1940s, 50s and 60s, Al has worked with several of them, including Ken Mackintosh, Cyril Stapleton, Maynard Ferguson, the BBC Big Band and the BBC Northern Radio Orchestra.

Saturday, June 21 Workshop: Laughter Yoga, with Gill and Geoff Lowe, Town Hall, 10am to 11am Laughter is good for your health. Sharing a laugh uplifts your spirits and combined with yoga’s deep breathing, playful laughter exercises and games it becomes a powerful way to keep fit and healthy.

Festival in The Square, The Square, 10.30am to 7pm Enjoy a day out for all the family with free entertainment and music. More information will be posted on the website. Expect the unexpected from street theatre and dance including Bicycle with Barefoot and get ready to welcome Wish You Were Here at 3pm to its final lap of glory in Grassington.

Film: The Big Melt and Velorama, Octagon Theatre, 6pm Velorama is a new film created from stunning British Film Institute archive film about a century of the bicycle. Yorkshire audiences will have the first opportunity to see this new documentary, directed by award-winning Daisy Asquith from Leeds, with a soundtrack from cult musician Bill Nelson. For this original soundtrack Bill will form collaborations with young Yorkshire musicians. The Big Melt takes 100 years of film from the BFI archives, the artistic temperament of film director Martin Wallace and the unique musical talents of Jarvis Cocker and other Sheffield musicians.

Bugalu Foundation + DJ Lubi, Town Hall, 8pm Dance to the sounds of a Spanish Harlem nightclub from Bugalu Foundation. Their style of boogaloo is heavily influenced by the music of Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri, and particularly the 70s era of Our Latin Thing. This nine piece powerhouse has more than a hint of Palmieri’s trombone rich La Perfecta, combined with the guitar fuelled Afro-Latin style of Joe Battaan. Lubi Jovanovic is one of the original UK Latin “Dons” from back in the day! He started spinning heavy mambo and latin jazz for jazzdancers in the early 80s Sunday, June 22 Giant Wordsearching, Grassington village and the surrounding area, noon to 4pm Find the right words in this gigantic challenge to seek out letters that are hidden in Grassington. Teams will be hunting down each letter in an enormous word search treasure hunt to create the longest, most point scoring, ridiculous word.

Afternoon tea with Gervase Phinn, Angel Inn, Hetton, 4.30pm.

Come and listen to Yorkshire’s favourite raconteur over a wonderful afternoon tea.

Bike Story, Festival in the Field, 4.30pm A Grand Depart road trip that explores our long-term love affair with the bicycle. Visiting towns and villages around Yorkshire during the Yorkshire Festival 2014, Bike Story is an outdoor performance that brings to life the ups and downs of getting about on two wheels.

The Messiah, St Wilfrid’s Church, Burnsall, workshop from 1pm, performance 7.30pm Come and listen to The Messiah with tenor Bonaventura Bottone who has performed at the best opera houses around the world, including the Royal Opera House and Covent Garden. Musical director Ed Williams invites you to hear some fresh voices alongside leading musicians and professional soloists in a Messiah blending local talent with talented stars. A newly formed choir will have been practising all afternoon to produce a quality performance. Arrive at 12.30pm to take part in The Messiah workshop Arioso: Naples to Vienna - an 18th century musical journey, Scargill House, Kettlewell, 4pm The acclaimed period performance group, Arioso explores the exciting music linking the Kingdom of Naples and Austro-Bohemia. The programme is an accessible mix of vocal and instrumental works from the late baroque/early-classical periods by well known composers, including Gluck and Haydn. The core will be semi-staged extracts from celebrated operas Pucinni’s La Cecchina.

An Evening with Ray Snape, a premature wake, The Octagon, 6.30pm Join Ray and friends for a very special, nay, eclectic evening of music and poetry. Expect our very own acoustic singer song-writer, Meghann Clancy and a rare acoustic set from Slack Alice and Ray’s entertaining anecdotes and poetry.

Hartlington Press Launch. with surprise guest, Town Hall, 8.30pm Hartlington Press is a new venture in the Dale to promote, encourage and support creative writing Monday, June 23 Omid Djalili Live, Festival in the Field marquee, 8pm He’s back on tour with a splash, following a sell-out four week West End residency and a sold-out season at the Edinburgh Festival Sean Conway, Town Hall, 6.30pm Sean is an endurance adventurer and self-confessed nutter who takes pleasure in mentally and physically pushing himself way beyond what was thought possible. His endurance adventures have varied from climbing Kilimanjaro dressed as a penguin and cycling 16,000 miles through six continents in 116 days (most of which was done with a fractured spine after getting run over by a truck in America), to recently becoming the first person in history to swim the length of Britain.

Tuesday, June 24 Aireville School presents Tunstill’s Men, starts at Methodist Church, 5.45pm A poignant tale of local young men sent off to war. Tunstill’s men is an accomplished piece created and performed by students and staff at Aireville School, Skipton. The true story of a recruiting campaigner during World War One is brought to life in this promenade performance through the Grassington streets.

Film: The Settlement, Town Hall, 8pm Presented in partnership with The Hub, the premiere of this exciting and ambitious project documenting local life in Grassington. Film-maker Geoff Kerr and local historian Cynthia Colley have collaborated to produce a film which centres around the residents and visitors of this unique part of the Yorkshire Dales Wednesday, June 25 An Audience with Ian Scott Massie, Angel Inn, Hetton, 12.30pm Come and listen to a selection of Ian’s Tales from the Dales and enjoy a two -ourse Yorkshire Dales lunch.

Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings, Festival in the Field marquee, 8pm During 31 years with the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman established his reputation as one of the greatest bass players in rock and roll history. In 1996 Bill formed his Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings band bringing together an all-star line of musicians able to play jazz and blues - music which first inspired Bill to pick up a bass guitar.

Thursday, June 26 Workshop: landscape artist Kitty North, Prospect House, Arncliffe, 10am to 5pm With over 20 years of experience painting in the Yorkshire Dales, Kitty will be on hand to talk about her work and to demonstrate how she captures the beauty and vibrancy of the local landscape onto canvas. There will be a talk and demonstration at 2pm.

Aireville School presents Tunstill’s Men, starts at Methodist Church, 5.45pm A poignant tale of local young men sent off to war. Tunstill’s men is an accomplished piece created and performed by students and staff at Aireville School, Skipton.

Only Men Aloud with special guest Laura Wright, Festival in the Field marquee, 8pm Only Men Aloud has been reinvented as an eight-piece vocal ensemble and they have been busy on a variety of tours in Wales and beyond. Singing with Only Men Aloud is Laura Wright, one of the biggest selling classical artists this decade .

Friday, June 27 George’s Marvellous Medicine, Bolton Abbey Priory, 6pm For three consecutive summers, Illyria has been the only open-air touring company granted permission to perform David Wood’s adaptations of Roald Dahl’s books. In 2014 it is back with his most glorious classic, George’s Marvellous Medicine. It is full of larger-than-life characters, plenty to join in with, and just a twist of malicious fun!

The Boomtown Rats and support, Festival in the Field marquee, 8pm One of the biggest bands from the late 70s and early 80s with a string of top ten hits and platinum albums, the Boomtown Rats’ fast, loud and furious music will transport the audience back to the punk scene. Singer Bob Geldof continues to be a defiant anti-establishment voice.

Saturday, June 28 Festival in the Square, The Square, 10.30am to 4.30pm Gather in the square to soak up the atmosphere and catch some free outdoor sounds. Enjoy the covered area on rainy days and make sure you relax, socialise, watch and enjoy the heart of Grassington Festival on its last day.

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Guided walk: Threshfield Quarry - A former industrial site, Threshfield Quarry, Threshfield An easy three-mile (4.5km) walk in an area which until recently was a source of employment. Dress for Dales weather. No dogs or unaccompanied children but the walk is suitable for families. Advance booking essential.

Last Night Party with Heather Small, Festival in the Field marquee, 6.30pm The Last Night Party should get everyone up and dancing, a great way to celebrate the end of the Festival. As always, alongside the fabulous line-up plus DJ, festival-goerswill party late into the night. One of the seminal British voices of the 1990s, Heather Small will be singing a mix of M People hits, jazz covers and her own solo tracks, including the title track of her Proud album.

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